Order of the Gautje
by Silver Elfie
Summary: Six people work as a team each with their own unique power to fight the threat of evil passing through the boundaries of life and death. Similar to the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix but entirely different.
1. The birth

**Chapter One – The birth**

He sat there. The moon shone its light on his wide eyes; frozen pupils gleaming in the distance. Not a sound, not a move, not a breath, just sat silently still. Suddenly, his eyes grew wider and he shook as he gasped in air. He sighed, stood up and stretched out his arms as an old woman with silver wisps of hair flapping in the wind approached him. "It is time," he told her, "for the birth of the walker."

A baby's cry echoed through the tall, hollow trees. The breath of new life rose to the heavens and awoke the angels. A young woman cried with happiness as her new baby girl was placed delicately into her arms. While she lovingly stared into her daughter's eyes, she thanked the Liyae for her special gift and prayed to the Gautje that her baby would be safe from harm.

"Oh Lords of the Liyae, please accept my thanks with all my heart for giving me such a wonderful baby daughter, whom I shall love tenderly and never stop loving until the end of my current life. And I pray to the Gautje that my little girl will be protected from harm and death itself, and she will have a happy long life. In the name of the Liyae, I shall call her Sohgrie!"

"Such a beautiful name Maggie, where did you get it from?" The voice came from the rocking chair sitting by the fire.

"A little angel came to visit me one night and told me to name my child 'Sohgrie', which is a name that one day, will bring her wonders and answers. Why do you ask dear mother?"

"Well my child," replied the voice, "I've never heard such a name before, so I wondered if the Lords had chosen it knowing that she will be someone special."

"She is someone special. She's my daughter and always will be and that is why she is so special. Where is Qui? I wish him to see our child!"

"Michael is outside. I shall send for him now." She turned to the nurse and said in a commanding voice "Do send young Qui Michael inside Laura, his baby awaits him."

With that the nurse made her way out the bedroom door and though the back door to find Michael. She soon returned with a young man of his mid-twenties following along behind her. He took off his hat to reveal jet black curls bordering the top of his pale face. He raised his head a little to see his newborn child with his bright blue eyes and smiled.

"Oh Kabeshi, she's gorgeous!" he cried with joy as he ran to Maggie's bedside.

"Qui she's just how we dreamed her to be. We can't let anything happen to her, she's just too precious!" Maggie passed him his daughter. Her mother suddenly stood up and asked "Why do you two call each other those names? You know it cause trouble!"

"THOSE names are OUR names, mother!" snapped Maggie "and we are not frightened about people knowing who we are."

Michael then added "What have we to fear Elsie? We were given the names for a purpose; therefore we choose to use them."

"Don't you dare talk to me like that young man. You may be my son-in-law and the father of my granddaughter, but you have no right to speak to me in such a way! You should learn….."

"MOTHER!" interrupted Maggie, "you have no right to speak to him like that! He was just answering you in a truthful way, and you throw it back in his face. I'm sorry mother but if you're going to behave like this on the birth of my daughter, then I wish you to leave."

"Now Kab…" began Michael.

"NO! Michael, I don't want her here!" Silence overtook the atmosphere, and Elsie's face fell as she picked up her things and made her way out. As soon as she left, the disturbing silence was broken by the soft gurgle of Sohgrie.

"You were a bit harsh Kabeshi!" said Michael.

"I know." She replied, "But sometimes she forgets I'm not a kid anymore." On her last word they both bowed their heads to observe the sweet little face of their baby as she slept in peace.


	2. The visitor

**Chapter two – The visitor**

There she sat with curls in her hair. Blonde curls, gleaming and bouncing as she sat, sat still like a cat waiting for its master. She blinked once, twice, three times and a tall, dark mysterious man with a cloak longer than a tree tightly wrapped around his broad shoulders. He stood a while before nodding his head at her and speaking in a quiet yet booming voice.

"I guess it is done then. You have completed the first stage of the task?"

She sat pleasantly upright as he spoke and replied calmly "Yes Sir. Moorx has looked through the mist twice to make sure that we have completed the task accurately."

"Good." He said this with a sound of delight. "As I thought, you do all work well together. We shall expect great things from you!"

"But Sir!" Now she was standing to protest, but she still had to crane her neck to speak to him as he was far taller than her. "We may work well together but you said yourself that we are useless without the Key or the Walker. And we don't even work well without the Sensor!"

"Calm down young Heja, there is nothing to fear. I have been watching the Walker for some time now and I feel that she is finally ready to learn her true meaning; she is now old enough to take her place in the Order."

"And what about the Key and the Sensor?"

"In good time, in good time! Finding the last two is another quest for you three, but for that we need the Walker. But, like I say, all in good time."

Heja seemed reassured at this point and with a deep sigh of relief and sat back down. After a few moments silence the tall man gazed to the night sky and took a long silver object from one of the many pockets of his cloak. He held it up to the sky and pushed a button on the side to make a sudden bright flash and passed the object to Heja.

"All the information for the second stage is on here. Use it at night on the next full moon, do not let anyone other than the Order see what it contains and only you will be able to reach the information. Good luck."

With that he turned in a flash and disappeared into the mist of nowhere. Heja studied the object carefully, wondering silently to herself "But how do I use it?"

A herd of school children washed through the streets of Kaleido, pushing and shoving their way to school. The juniors scrambled towards a small white building surrounded by acres of grassland, some trees and three greenish blue ponds. The intermediates headed towards a large red and white building situated in acres of grass and woodland, with a 6km wide lake standing behind it. The tinies were accompanied to a series of huts in an area full of climbing frames and other playing equipment, and a simple clear blue paddling pool.

The city suddenly went deaf as the last screaming child entered through double doors. Parents breathed a sigh of relief as they made their way home or to their jobs. Kaleido sang a song of a peaceful morning, with the birds chatting in the trees.

In the Intermediate School sat a young girl with jet black curls, ice-blue eyes and skin as pale as the clouds. She sat silently listening to her music teacher, Mr. Andrews, carefully noting every word coming out of his mouth.

"So who can tell me the meaning or 'Fortissimo'? Perhaps you, Lizzy?" he asked her.

The pale faced girl proudly stood up and replied in her tuneful voice "Fortissimo means 'very loud' sir." Then she gently sat back in her seat.

"Excellent! You've been paying attention I see."

A secret smile extended across Lizzy's sweet, innocent face. She loved it when a teacher praised her as it didn't happen very often. She was a very quiet girl who kept herself to herself, and was almost invisible as she was hard to notice. She seemed to be a favourite of Mr. Andrews. He liked the sort of people who didn't boast about their magnificent brains.

"Now then," he concluded, "I see we have three minutes so before we go I'll give out your homework."

A whisper of groans circled the room at the word 'homework', but nobody complained as the consequences were harsh. These consequences included cleaning the rubbish after school, washing the grubby dishes after the lunch rush and more cringing things. Of course there were the less harsh punishments such as detentions and extra homework, but the harsh ones seemed to do the trick of making less kids misbehave. Lizzy had only ever had one detention, but that was because he somehow managed to make her science experiment fly across the room causing a huge explosion of chemicals, which then disappeared into thin air. The teacher didn't believe that she hadn't actually done anything to make it do so, yet he couldn't quite work out how she would have managed to make it vanish, so he let her off with a small punishment.

The bell rang for the end of lesson and a rush of teenagers swarmed through doors and infested the canteen, with huge queues forming for lunch. Lizzy quietly walked straight to the lake and sat down under a shady tree. She liked to be alone. Well, she preferred to be alone as she hardly had any friends and the ones she had were an embarrassment to be around. So here she sat, alone under this tree that was gently swaying to and fro in the whispering breeze. She reached into her bag and extracted a box containing two jam sandwiches and a strawberry yoghurt that her mother had packed for her. They didn't get to eat much in her home, as her mother couldn't work due to back problems and her father was on a poorly paid job. Her father could quit his job and get a better one of course, but it was incredibly hard to get a job these days since the fall of the government. Lizzy finished her lunch and was just about to go for a walk when she suddenly found a special treat in her bag from her mother. A chocolate munch bar was neatly wrapped in some paper with a little note attached to it…

Lizzy. Dad worked overtime last week and earned some extra money so I persuaded him to get you a treat. Enjoy darling, because you deserve it! Love Mum.

Lizzy's eyes glowed brightly as she carefully unwrapped the paper to reveal a bar of heavenly chocolate, which she ate delightfully and smiled. The smooth texture ran down her throat, swirling through her stomach like a fluttering butterfly trapped inside her. As she closed her eyes to indulge herself a small voice whispered "She will walk through the mist and complete the Order!"

She jerked suddenly, scanning her surroundings for the voice. "Who's there?" she cried, getting more and more worried every time she turned. She looked left, right, back and left, but still no sign of any intruder so she quickly snatched her things from the floor and ran with every effort she had. She ran and ran until she reached the double doors of the school, swinging on their hinges with a teeth gritting squeak.

"Ah Lizzy!" Mr. Andrews called to her, "I wondered where you had got to. This is Mr. Gabesh, he's here to talk to some of our best students about a once in a lifetime opportunity. I say are you ok Lizzy? You look terribly flushed!"

She stood gaping a while before realising an answer was required and replied "Erm… yes Sir. Yes I'm fine. Just thought I was late for lesson you see, lost track of the time!"

"Late for lesson? But it's only fifteen minutes into lunch! Anyway, Mr. Gabesh wishes to speak to you so I shall leave you to it." With that he walked back to his room to continue with his meal.

As they walked towards the woodland, Lizzy stared at Mr. Gabesh for a while, observing his old, drooping pale face surrounded by a mass of shocking white hair. Around his shoulders he had wrapped an extremely long metallic purple cloak, and he wore a velvet red button shirt with flaring black trousers. The lighting was reflecting against the bright green eyes he possessed, and as he smiled at her he exposed a set of pearly white teeth.

As Lizzy hypothesized about how strange it was for a normal person to be dressed so colourfully, he spoke to her.

"Before we start, I must apologise about my apprentice scaring you like that near the lake! He is incredibly clumsy at times, but he is an excellent worker."

"Ex….excuse..me?"

"Oh I'm terribly sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Epiybu Thomas Gabesh, founder of the Order."

"I'm afraid I don't understand Sir. How do you know about the lake and what Order are you the founder of?"

"Why the Order of the Gautje of course! And I know what happened at the lake because my apprentice is the one who spoke and scared you."

"So you are the founder of the Order of the Gautje, and you're here to tell me about some opportunity? But I thought that the Gautje had been taken over after the fall of the government!"

"Well yes, but that's why I came to talk to you. You see, you are to become part of the Order to save this world from the threat of the Forces. You were born the Walker, Elizabeth Roberts." On his last word, he looked down upon her with a serious look on his face, so serious that she felt cold.

"H….how do you know my name? I don't recall Mr. Andrews telling you my full name, everyone calls me Lizzy!"

"Ah but your parents don't though, do they? I think they prefer your true name, Sohgrie Elizabeth."

At that very moment, the colour in Lizzy's face drained away and she became a greyish colour. She couldn't believe he knew her true name. Nobody called her that but her parents and even they didn't call her that in public, it was too dangerous!


	3. Gateway to the Moon

**Chapter three – Gateway to the Moon**

Heja stood to think for a moment. How was she supposed to extract the information from this silver object? Was she to do what the tall man had done and hold it up to the sky, pushing a button to make it flash? If so, where was the button? She could no sign of a button anywhere on the carefully engraved item. The markings on the silver were hard to tell if they were meant to be a message or just decoration, so she decided that there was no point trying to find out as the cloak of darkness was just around the corner and her companions were soon to arrive. With a deep hesitation she replaced the object inside her bag then checked her watch for the time. The full moon would be out soon and if the others didn't hurry to get here then they will have failed their mission.

A soft croaky voice from behind her suddenly said "Be patient Rosabelle, we are here. Stop worrying all the time!"

She swiftly turned round to face the new arrivals and relaxed a little. "Hello Robin, David. I'm so glad you made it on time, but I still haven't the faintest idea how we're supposed to use this thing!" She showed them the long silver object, its markings reflecting the only remaining light of the day.

"What did Thomas tell us to do exactly? Seeing as you were the only one he bothered to tell." Said David, a dark haired baby-faced boy dressed in plain jeans and t-shirt, with an emerald green cloak wrapped around his shoulders.

"He told us to use it under a full moon and not to let anyone else see what it contains." She replied, looking confused.

The croaky voiced boy asked her "Well did he mention anything at all about how to use it?"

"The only thing he said, Robin, was that only I can reach it."

"You dopey idiot!" Robin said rather loudly, "Only you can reach it! What is your place in the order?" he asked sarcastically.

"I am the Reacher! But what has that got to do…. Oh… right! I get it now. Only I can reach into it and withdraw the information it holds. Oh how stupid I am!" Heja walked a little away from the boys as she cursed herself for being so idiotic, then returned slowly towards them before asking "But what am I reaching through?"

Both boys looked at each other, realising that they had yet another puzzle to solve except this time they had no idea. Yet suddenly the moon appeared, shining down on the three youngsters like a spotlight searching for criminals. They all squinted at the light shining in their eyes while they desperately thought of what they were actually meant to do.

"Hang on;" Robin said to the other two, "maybe David can see what it is you're meant to reach through. After all we must be here for something if you can't do this yourself."

"Nah already tried mate!" David answered him. "Or maybe you can read what the markings say on the object and see if that helps."

"Yeh it's worth a shot. Hold it up to the moon Rosabelle."

Heja did as she was told and held it high above her head towards the moon. As she did so, the markings began to change round to form a picture of an archway and an inscription which clearly said '**_Gateway to the moon._**' All three of them looked at each other as they finally understood what to do. Heja closed her eyes to concentrate on the picture of the archway and rapidly turned blue with cold, as icicles formed around her motionless body, her hand still holding the object above her head.

"She's through the mist, but she can only reach the information, I very much doubt she can do much else." David began to panic.

"Chill Dave! That's where we come in. I'll have to get into her mind and tell her to pass it through me, and then you will see it to tell us what it says."

"Wow! Quick thinking Robin."

"Hey I am the brains of the three of us!" Robin sniggered a little. "Now, are you ready? Cause I need to get to the boundary in time for Rosabelle." David nodded at his question and this time Robin closed his eyes, his whole body freezing cold with icicles forming on his rigid body.

He arrived on the boundary of the mist. The cold biting at his bare arms with the strong current of air almost snatching him off his feet. He pulled his navy blue cloak tighter around himself while he called out to Heja, frantically searching for her mind. At last he found what he was looking for and concentrated hard on her mind, ordering her to reach out for the information and pass it to him by telepath. Heja absorbed the information through her head and passed it to him, and then she vanished from his sight, back to life. Robin breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath so that he could return to his body back in life. Taking one last deep breath he turned to the other side of the mist to see the archway that was on the object and vanished through it just as Heja had done.

Robin shook violently as his lungs took in oxygen and his body regained its warmth. The icicles melted to water, which dripped off the end of his nose and cloak. But the mission wasn't finished; he still had to transfer the information to David's mind so they could find out what it said. So once again he concentrated hard, this time on David's head which he then passed the information to. David jumped suddenly as he received it in his head, before looking into his own head to see what it was.

He looked confused for a while. He tilted his head from side to side whilst he was in deep thought. Heja and Robin exchanged glances whilst he did this, both of them hoping that it hadn't turned out to be a complete waste of time. Then they both looked up to him to hear him say "We have to bring back the soul of the Prophesy, yet it's going to be difficult to get it. First, we need the Key."


	4. Family Reunion

**Chapter four – Family reunion**

Robin immediately looked over his shoulder when he heard it. The sharp crackling noise coming from behind him made him jump so badly that he was now shaking from the shock. His pupils widened with fear as the perspiration dripped from his forehead. Surely they can't be breaking through the borders already! They can't be, the Gautje hadn't been completed yet and they can't have found out the secrets of how to break free. Unless… no… they didn't have a spy for them on the night the Order had used the Gateway to the Moon did they? There it was again, the crackling noise. Robin began to breathe heavily as he desperately rummaged through his mind for something to do to defend himself. Loud footsteps came closer and closer to the terrified boy, and he was now beginning to back up slowly in coward ness.

"Ah Kienoi!" came the reassuring sound of Epiybu's voice. "Whatever's the matter my dear boy? You look as if you've seen a servant of the Forces." Epiybu looked concerned as he emerged from the bushes, his metallic purple cloak ripped in several places and his face covered in soot and dirt, with a few minor scratches on his forehead and arms.

"Oh it's only you Sir." Robin breathed his mind at rest. "I thought you were one of the servants, I heard a sharp crackling noise and thought they were escaping from the borders and… are you alright Sir? You seem terribly compressed!"

"Ah, yes. Well you see Kienoi Robin, I had a little business to attend to and it went a bit, shall we say, faulty? That's what the crackling that you heard was. I was using greater magic to transport away though the other realms. Someday I will teach the Order this but it will take time as it is far too dangerous to go quickly. Anyway, how come I bumped into you at this time of night in a place like this?"

Kienoi Robin gulped in dread. "Erm… I was… I was just…"

"You were just trying to contact your parents again."

Kienoi dropped his head in shame and upset. His parents had perished in the flames of a fire caused by greater magic the year before. That was how he became the first member of the reformation of the Order when Epiybu had rescued him from the hands of a Knix, a powerful follower of the Forces. The Forces had sent the Knix to destroy him when they discovered he was to be the Speaker of the Order, part of the group that was destined to demolish the Forces.

"Robin," Epiybu said softly. "Robin, there's nothing to be ashamed of. I understand how you feel but it's too dangerous to try contacting them on your own at this stage in time. I promise you that when the Order is complete, you can all work together to contact them and then when you're more experienced you can do it on your own." Epiybu gently placed his wide, weather-worn hand on Kienoi's shoulder.

The young boy bravely held back the tears while he said in a croaky voice "I understand."

Lizzy smiled when she saw her grandmother waiting for her at the school gates when she exited the building. She very rarely got to see her dear grandmother as her mother was always arguing with her about anything and everything. Lizzy ran towards her grandmother with open arms ready to welcome the soft scent of lavender and the warmth of her thick velvet cloak.

"Lizzy my darling, it's been so long since I last saw you! I decided that I should make the effort and meet you at school to walk you home, and then hopefully I may be able to stay for tea if you're mother has calmed down about me!" Elsie called to her granddaughter as she hugged her tightly.

"Oh grandmother I've missed you so much! It was very nice of you to come and meet me, now I can enjoy my walk home."

They both laughed and chatted about what had been happening in their lives since they last saw each other, catching up like old friends. Lizzy did wonder whether she should tell her grandmother about the strange visitor, but decided against it when she remembered how panicky she gets about those sorts of things! Instead she just bit it back and carried on talking about how her parents were whilst they sauntered through the park leading to her home.

"Lizzy is there something you wish to tell me? You look as though you're trying to hide something!" Elsie asked softly, but Lizzy just shook her head and entered through the doors leading to the warmth of her house.

Once inside they both breathed in the fresh taste of creamed potatoes, a cheap but very tasty meal indeed. They walked through the hallway to the room where her mother was stood at a steaming pewter cooking pot hanging over a lukewarm fire, with one hand placed firmly on her hip and the other holding a wooden spoon. She wore a green blouse with a flaring brown skirt and a black halfway pinny, with her hair held up loosely by a plain ageing ribbon. She turned round and her eyes lit up with delight when she saw her beloved daughter stood in the doorway.

"My darling! You're home! Come in, warm yourself up by the fire and I'll make you a hot cup of orange and….. Oh …. Mum….. This is a nice surprise!" her voice went from a bubbly and delightful tone to a dull, almost silent sound.

"Ah well we can't stay enemies forever can we Maggie? After all, we are family!" Elsie moved forward towards her daughter and held her in a tight embrace. Maggie responded and slowly placed her arms around her estranged mother to welcome her back into her life once again. At that very moment a middle-aged man with jet black curls arrived through the doorway.

"Elsie! Long time since I last saw you and it's a pleasure to see you again." He said cheerfully before kissing her cheek politely.

"Oh hello Michael, I suppose I better apologise for my rude behaviour towards you before."

"Ah it doesn't matter, what happens in the past is left in the past as far as I'm concerned." He walked over to his wife to plant a kiss on her lips, and then asked "Do I smell creamed potatoes for dinner?"

Maggie raised her eyebrows and replied "Yes. The stove has broken again so I hard to it the hard way over the fire."

"Again?" Michael exclaimed. "But I only fixed it last week! Ah well, someday we'll afford a new one."

As the reunited family sat down to enjoy gossip and creamed potatoes, Lizzy's mind wandered back how Epiybu had known her name and told her she was some 'Walker' from an Order of some sort. She hadn't quite understood what he was he was trying to tell her, and to make matters worse she didn't dare tell her parents about him, especially in front of her grandmother who was sure to see this as another excuse to fall out with them. Lizzy quickly decided that she would tell them if anything else happened, that was her best bet. After all, nothing bad was going to happen…was it?


End file.
